Publications

Luthman, O., Jonell, M., Rönnbäck, P., Troell, M. 2022. Strong and weak sustainability in Nordic aquaculture policies. Aquaculture. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2021.737841

In this paper, we critically analyze how sustainability is considered in aquaculture policies and strategies using the Nordic countries as a case. The strong versus weak sustainability concepts are used to define and clarify what sustainability aspects are central to each state. To illustrate these concepts further, we draw on and modify four mainstream environmental discourses defined by John Dryzek and apply them to the stro...

Naylor, R., Kishore, A., Sumaila, U., Issifu, I., Hunter, B., Belton, B., Bush, S., Cao, L., Gelcich, S., Gephart, J., Golden, C., Jonell, M., Koehn, J., Little, D., Thilsted, S., Tigchelaar, M., Crona, B.. 2021. Blue food demand across geographic and temporal scales. Nature Communications. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-25516-4

Numerous studies have focused on the need to expand production of ‘blue foods’, defined as aquatic foods captured or cultivated in marine and freshwater systems, to meet rising population- and income-driven demand. Here we analyze the roles of economic, demographic, and geographic factors and preferences in shaping blue food demand, using secondary data from FAO and The World Bank, parameters from published models, and case st...

Gephart, J.A., Henriksson, P.J.G., Parker, R.W.R., Shepon, A., Gorospe, K.D., Bergman, K., Eshel, G., Golden, C.D., Halpern, B.S., Hornborg, S., Jonell, M., Metian, M., Mifflin, K., Newton, R., Tyedmers, P., Zhang, W., Ziegler, F. & Troell, M. 2021. Environmental performance of blue foods. Nature 597(7876), 360-365.

Fish and other aquatic foods (blue foods) present an opportunity for more sustainable diets. Yet comprehensive comparison has been limited due to sparse inclusion of blue foods in environmental impact studies3,4 relative to the vast diversity of production. Here we provide standardized estimates of greenhouse gas, nitrogen, phosphorus, freshwater and land stressors for species groups covering nearly three quarters of global p...

Bergman, K., Henriksson, P.J., Hornborg, S., Troell, M., Borthwick, L., Jonell, M., Philis, G. and Ziegler, F., 2020. Recirculating Aquaculture Is Possible without Major Energy Tradeoff: Life Cycle Assessment of Warmwater Fish Farming in Sweden. Environmental science & technology.

Seafood is seen as promising for more sustainable diets. The increasing production in land-based closed Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RASs) has overcome many local environmental challenges with traditional open net-pen systems such as eutrophication. The energy needed to maintain suitable water quality, with associated emissions, has however been seen as challenging from a global perspective. This study uses Life Cycle A...

Tlusty, M.F., Tyedmers, P., Bailey, M., Ziegler, F. Henriksson, P.J.G., et.al. 2019. Reframing the sustainable seafood narrative. Global Environmental Change

The dominant sustainable seafood narrative is one where developed world markets catalyze practice improvements by fisheries and aquaculture producers that enhance ocean health. The narrow framing of seafood sustainability in terms of aquaculture or fisheries management and ocean health has contributed to the omission of these important food production systems from the discussion on global food system sustainability. This omiss...

Stoll, J.S., Bailey, M., Jonell, M. 2019. Alternative pathways to sustainable seafood. Conservation Letters, Policy perspective

Seafood certifications are a prominent tool being used to encourage sustainability in marine fisheries worldwide. However, questions about their efficacy remain the subject of ongoing debate. A main criticism is that they are not well suited for small‐scale fisheries or those in developing nations. This represents a dilemma because a significant share of global fishing activity occurs in these sectors. To overcome this shortco...

O. Luthman, M. Jonell, M. Troell. 2019. Governing the salmon farming industry: Comparison between national regulations and the ASC salmon standard. Marine policy: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2019.103534

Farmed salmon has become an important export commodity for many countries and regions. The expanding salmon aquaculture industry has, due to its rapid increase, resulted in environmental concerns, most notably relating to the interaction with wildlife, effects of effluents and discharges in local ecosystems, in some regions overuse of antibiotics and development of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) and high dependence on fish res...

Jonell, M., Tlusty, M., Troell, M., Rönnbäck, P., 2019 Certifying farmed seafood – a drop in the ocean or a ‘stepping-stone’ towards increased sustainability? In Sustainability Certification Schemes in the Agricultural and Natural Resources Sectors: Outcomes for society and the environment, Ed. Vogt, M., 323 pp. Oxon: Routledge

The sustainable seafood movement has gained increased momentum during recent years and while most eco-labelled seafood originates from capture fisheries, the fastest growth of seafood eco-certification can be observed in the aquaculture sector. The extent to which certification have overall positive environmental impacts however remains uncertain. This chapter provides an overview of the existing literature on aquaculture eco-...

Willett, W., Rockström, J., Loken, B., Springmann, M., et.al. 2019. Food in the Anthropocene: the EAT–Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems. EAT-Lancet EAT–Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31788-4

Food systems have the potential to nurture human health and support environmental sustainability; however, they are currently threatening both. Providing a growing global population with healthy diets from sustainable food systems is an immediate challenge. Although global food production of calories has kept pace with population growth, more than 820 million people have insufficient food and many more consume low-quality diet...

Springmann, M., Clark, M., Mason-D’Croz, D., Wiebe, K., Bodirsky, B.L., Lassaletta, L., de Vries, W., Vermeulen, S.J., Herrero, M., Carlson, K.M. and Jonell, M., 2018. Options for keeping the food system within environmental limits. Nature, 562(7728), p.519.

The food system is a major driver of climate change, changes in land use, depletion of freshwater resources, and pollution of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems through excessive nitrogen and phosphorus inputs. Here we show that between 2010 and 2050, as a result of expected changes in population and income levels, the environmental effects of the food system could increase by 50–90% in the absence of technological changes and...